


Begrudging Babysitting

by im_patelling_you_to_stop



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: F/F, Fluff, and kat has a sister that i wrote in, but she serves a purpose, there's a kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 19:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14291913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_patelling_you_to_stop/pseuds/im_patelling_you_to_stop
Summary: Kat's sister can't babysit Adena's daughter, so Kat has to fill in, despite the fact that watching a kid over winter break is the last thing she wants to do.





	1. TFW your matchmaker is seven

Kat really just wanted to sleep. She’d taken her last exam three days ago, and then she’d had to wait for Jane to finish hers so that they could drive down together because Jane still hadn’t gotten her license and Sutton won the coin toss. Her mom had also woken her up at four in the morning when she was yelling at her sister, who had snuck out to a party. So, yeah, Kat was exhausted, and the last thing she needed right now was for her curtains to be pulled apart at the ungodly hour of eight in the morning. 

“Kat,” her mom said in a sing-songy voice. “I made you pancakes.”

Kat groaned, rolling onto her stomach to block out the light with her pillow.

“Go away,” was her muffled response. 

Her mom sighed, and there was a sudden dip in the right side of her bed as the woman sunk down at the foot. 

“Please, sweetheart, you’re sister is hungover and grounded, and she was supposed to babysit for Ms. El-Amin across the street. You’re father’s with a client, and I need to do some last minute shopping. I wouldn’t wake you up if I didn’t really need you.”

“Fine,” Kat grumbled, rolling over and propping herself up. “But I’m doing this because I’m hungry and your pancakes are the best.” 

Fifteen minutes later, Kat was bleary eyed but dressed, her hands shoved into the pockets of her overalls, a thick sweater underneath them. She stalked into the kitchen, sitting down and pulling on her boots. 

“Bye, sweetheart,” Kat’s mom called cheerfully as she grabbed her purse. “Your aunt and I are going shopping, and we probably won’t be back before you’re home. Tell Ms. El-Amin, I say hi!” 

“Bye,” Kat called back, rolling her eyes, more in fondness than annoyance. 

Not soon after her mom’s car had pulled out of the driveway, Kat found herself trudging through her neighbor’s yard, not bothering to walk up the driveway when the grass offered a much more direct route, even if it was lightly covered in snow. She knocked on the door, rocking back on her heels while she waited for it to open before coming face to face with a woman in a hijab adorned with little snowflakes. Kat couldn’t help but smile at the sight. 

“Hi, Ms. El-Amin. You look festive,” she said, stepping inside her neighbor’s house. 

“Hello,” the woman returned. “You must be the older sister. Thanks so much for doing this, and, please, it’s Adena.” 

She led Kat into the living room where a seven year old sat in front of the TV, watching Brooklyn Nine Nine. Kat must’ve looked surprised to see the kid watching the show, especially when Jake Peralta was cracking sex jokes because Adena immediately jumped to defend herself.

“I don’t think kids should be completely censored from sex because it leads to them look for answers about their sexuality in places they shouldn’t instead of asking their parents. I want to build a foundation of openness and trust between Saoirse and I, and the role models on this show are great for her.”

Kat flushed, embarrassed that Adena had basically read her mind when she had been questioning her parenting.

“That makes a lot of sense, actually,” she said. “As someone who’s pretty sex positive, I’m really impressed.” 

Adena smiled warmly.

“Y’know what? I like you.” 

Kat smiled back, significantly softer than usual. She felt a little… fluttery? She shook off the feeling quickly, realising she and Adena were still kind of staring at each other, the latter raising a superior looking eyebrow. Kat cleared her throat and shifted from foot to foot.

“So, Saoirse. That’s Irish, right?”

“It means freedom,” Adena explained. “Kind of symbolic.”

“Yeah?” Kat asked, leaning against the doorframe. 

“I came out my parents a few hours after she was born,” Adena said with a rueful smile. “They wanted me to marry the guy who knocked me up and were not pleased to find out that I’m a massive lesbian. Besides, it’s not like Ricky would’ve been father material. I haven’t seen him since high school. Straight me had horrible taste in men.”

Kat laughed a little at that, but she couldn’t help but feel a mixture of pity for Adena’s situation and annoyance at the woman’s parents. When she had kissed a girl and really, really liked it at one of Sutton’s boyfriends’ parties, her parents had been nothing but supportive. 

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said, refraining from reaching out to pull this virtual stranger into a hug. 

“Don’t be,” Adena assured her. “It sucks, sure, but I’m fine now. I have Saoirse and freedom from an oppressive family, and now I can be a proud Muslim lesbian. I got a job at an art gallery as an attendant like six months after graduation, and two years later, I’m now the gallery’s favorite tour guide due to my ‘unique eye and charisma’. Boss’s words not mine.”

“Are you an artist yourself?” Kat asked.

“Yes, actually. I’m a photographer. I do a little freelance work on the side.”

“Maybe I’ll commission you sometime,” Kat said with a wink.

Adena’s smirk faltered when she caught sight of the clock on the living room wall. 

“Well, as much as I love talking to you, I have to get to work. I should be back by five. There’s easy mac in the pantry for the both of you, and Saoirse will probably want chocolate milk. She can watch two hours of tv max.” She grabbed her coat, heading towards the door before stopping abruptly. “I don’t believe I ever caught your name.”

“Kat.” 

“Kat,” Adena said, smiling to herself. “I’d love it if you stayed for dinner.” 

With one final goodbye to her daughter, Adena was out the door, leaving Kat and Saoirse alone. Boy, was Kat glad she was good with kids. 

 

“My mama likes you,” Saoirse said through a mouthful of easy mac. “Like, like-likes you.”

Kat almost choked on her lunch but managed to keep her cool, simply saying, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Saoirse said matter of factly. “She made flirty eyes and invited you to stay for dinner, and she told you about Grandma and Grandpa. She doesn’t like to talk about that. Plus, she told you herself. Weren’t you listening?”

“Well,” Kat started, swallowing her mac n cheese, “sometimes, when people say they like you, they just mean as a person or as a friend. It doesn’t always mean they… like-like you.”

Saoirse just rolled her eyes, shoveling more food into her mouth. 

“What about all the other stuff, then. That stuff means she like-likes you. Trust me. I’ve known her my whole life.”

“You’re pretty smart for such a little girl,” Kat said. She ruffled the girl’s hair affectionately. 

“Hey, I’m seven and a half,” Saoirse retorted. “Which is practically ten, which is practically a teenager, which is practically an adult.” 

After lunch, Kat somehow convinced Saoirse to do the dishes, and then distracted her with a blanket fort in the living room, complete with a secret code to protect it from unwelcome visitors. Saoirse didn’t bring up the topic of Adena “like-liking” Kat for the rest of the afternoon. 

They somehow ended up on the topic of videogames, and Kat was appalled to discover that in Saoirse’s seven and a half years of life, she’d never played Mario Kart. She vowed to bring her Wii and the game over some time during break, so they could race. Not because she wanted to spend more time with Adena, or because she liked this kid and was in any way glad her mom had pushed babysitting responsibilities on her, but because it was a damn shame that this kid had never played. That’s all. 

Adena was home by five, as promised, carrying cartons of Chinese food. Kat poked her head out of the blanket fort and moved quickly to help her with the food. 

“Hope you didn’t want pork,” Adena said cheerfully. “It’s not halal, so we don’t eat that here.” 

“That’s cool,” Kat replied, grabbing a few plates from the cabinet and helping set the table. “Chicken’s my favorite, anyway.”

Adena nodded as she spread the cartons out on the table. 

“Nice blanket fort,” she said, eyeing the fortress in the living room. 

“Thank you. It has a very sound infrastructure.” Kat wiggled her eyebrows.

“Oh, does it now?” Adena asked teasingly before calling Saoirse in for dinner. 

“Mama,” Saoirse prompted from where she was perched on the very edge of her seat. Adena hummed absentmindedly from where she was fixing a chocolate milk for her daughter. 

“Do you think Kat’s pretty?”

“Mhm,” Adena hummed again. 

“Pretty enough to be a princess?” Saoirse prodded. 

“Yes, sweetheart,” Adena said, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. “Pretty enough to be a princess. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Saoirse said lightly, a slow grin making its way onto her face. “Can me and Kat be excused for a sec? We need to discuss something in the blanket fort.”

Kat skewered her orange chicken with one of her chopsticks. She knew she was probably deep red at this point, so she didn’t want to risk looking up. Adena took a long, drawn out sip of her water.

“I’m sure whatever you and Kat have to discuss can wait until after dinner. It’s rude to leave the table before you’re done eating.”

“Yes, mama,” Saoirse said. She nudged Kat’s shin with the side of her foot and whispered, “Hurry up.”

Kat made a point to eat extra slowly, talking with Adena about anything and everything, from college to photography to that time Sutton got her arm stuck up a vending machine and Kat had to coat it in lukewarm melted butter to get it to slide out. Saoirse was bouncing impatiently in her seat when she finally finished, and she quickly dragged Kat out of the kitchen by her wrist before she could even offer to help with the dishes. 

They were barely inside the blanket fort before Saoirse whisper yelled, “See? My mama totally like-likes you! She said you’re pretty as a princess. Do you know how pretty that is?” 

“Yeah, do you know how pretty that is?” Adena murmured, crawling into the blanket fort. 

Saoirse looked between the two women with a satisfied smile before crawling out, leaving the two alone and calling behind her, “I’ll be in bed reading Amelia Bedelia, so you guys can kiss and not worry about me.” 

Kat just kind of stared at a Adena for a second, not really sure what to do. The super gorgeous single mom who was surprisingly close to her age was here, flirting with her in a blanket fort and looking at her with soft eyes and a light smile that was a little… insecure? There’s no way this woman could be insecure. 

“You heard her,” Adena said, her smile growing. “We can kiss without worrying about her.”

“Are you always this forward?” Kat asked, but she was already leaning in. 

Adena chuckled.

“Only with people I really like.” She leaned closer, her breath hitting Kat’s lips when she spoke again. “And I’ve only spent a couple of hours with you, but Kat, I really like you.”

She closed the last few millimeters of distance. Kat tasted duck sauce and felt like she was melting into Adena, who put a hand around her neck, tugging her closer and pulling her down on top of her, almost bringing a couch cushion support beam with her. 

“Give me your number,” Kat said when they finally pulled away, still on top of Adena. “So I can contact you about your photography business, of course.”

“Of course,” Adena returned, smirking. “Nothing to do with the fact that you’re currently straddling me.” 

“Nothing like that.” A lazy grin spread across Kat’s face as she leaned down to capture Adena’s lips again. 

“Mama!” Saoirse called from the next room. “Stop kissing and come read to me! I wanna know what happens next in Narnia!” 

“Duty calls.” Adena rolled her eyes affectionately. 

Kat reluctantly rolled off of Adena, exiting the blanket fort behind her. Adena picked up a pen off the coffee table and grabbed Kat’s hand, scribbling a phone number onto her palm. 

“Let me know what you want me to photograph,” she said with a wink before turning in the direction of Saoirse’s bedroom and calling over her shoulder, “Babysitting money’s on the kitchen counter. I’m glad you had to fill in.” 

Kat looked down at her hand. She was glad, too.


	2. Aquarium... Date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kat shows up to play Mario Kart with Saoirse, but she and Adena end up going to the aquarium instead. It's a date. Maybe.

Kat knocked on the El Amin’s door for the second time that week, holding a cardbox containing her Wii, some remotes, and the Mario Kart disc.

“Kat.” Adena smiled as she opened the door. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

“Is Saoirse here?” Kat asked, shifting the box to her other hip. 

“No?” Adena said. 

“Oh, I’ll just come back later,” Kat said with a shrug. She turned on her heel to go, but Adena caught her elbow, effectively pulling her back. 

“Why does Saoirse have to be here?” 

Kat looked down at the box in her arms and held it out for Adena to see. 

“I brought my Wii over. I was gonna teach her how to play Mario Kart because I told her I would when I babysat Monday.” 

Adena’s eyes twinkled when she smiled, and Kat got kind of totally lost in them. It took her a few seconds to realize Adena was saying something. She blushed when Adena looked at her, expecting an answer she couldn’t provide. 

“Sorry, what?” she said sheepishly. 

Adena smirked. 

“I was just wondering if you wanted to do something? Saoirse’s sleeping over at a friends, and I was just gonna sit inside and binge watch something, but I’m kinda antsy to get out.”

“Sure!” Kat said, way too enthusiastically. She cursed herself internally. “I mean, uh, I don’t have anything going on, and I’ve been meaning to…” 

Adena watched her curiously as she trailed off, Kat’s blush deepening. 

“Meaning to what?” Adena asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Kat shook her head. Sutton always made fun of her for it, so she wasn’t about to tell Adena. However, after some coaxing, Kat eventually caved. 

“There’s this aquarium nearby, and whenever I’m home, I like to go look at the fish. I just think they’re really cool. It’s, um, my friends always complain about going with me because I kind of ignore them while we’re there, so you probably don’t want to do that.”

Adena just smiled at her, that same amused smile that somehow put Kat at ease and made her stomach do backflips at the same time. 

“That’s actually perfect,” she said, motioning for Kat to come in. “I’ve never been there, and I bet I can get some great pictures. Just let me grab my camera and we’ll go.”

Fifteen minutes later, Kat found herself at the entrance to the aquarium. She bought both their tickets and dragged Adena towards the first tank before she could protest. It was filled with tiny brightly colored fish, and Kat could already feel herself zoning out. Once she’d watched the little guys swim for a few minutes, she grinned and pulled Adena towards the puffer fish. 

They went from exhibit to exhibit, just like that, Kat gripping Adena’s wrist so that she could pull her to whatever she wanted to see next. Kat didn’t realize that’s what she was doing until they got to the biggest tank, the coral reef exhibit, and Adena tugged her wrist gently out of Kat’s grasp. 

“Gotta take some pictures,” she said.

“Right,” Kat said awkwardly. “That’s… why we’re here.”

“And so you could see the fish.” 

Kat returned Adena’s soft smile before becoming completely focused on the sight in front of her. She stared at the tank in awe, watching angelfish, clownfish, and even little hammerheads swim over, under, and through the brightly colored coral, some flipping their fins almost leisurely, others slicing through the water like a knife. Crabs scuttled across the bottom, their shells blending in with the rocky bottom so that their movement was the only thing giving them away. This. This was why Kat loved the aquarium. It was colorful and diverse and breathtaking and one of the only places you could clearly see how ocean creatures lived and interacted with one another. 

She vaguely registered Adena’s camera clicking behind her and hoped the woman was getting a good shot of one of the little sharks. They were her favorite. Adena let her stay at the tank for over half an hour, longer than Sutton or Jane ever put up with. When they walked away, it was because Kat felt like she had had enough, not because Sutton had run out of snapchat stories to watch or Jane had to pee. She found that same soft smile playing on her lips once more as she walked out the door, hand linked with Adena’s.

“Wanna grab some ice cream?” she asked as they got back in Adena’s car.

“Sure,” Adena said. “But it’s my treat this time.”

Kat tried to protest, but Adena effectively cut her off.

“You paid our admission for the aquarium. I’ll get the ice cream.”

Kat was going to argue again, but she remembered that she was almost out of cash, and she’d left her card at home, so she pretended to cave, secretly thanking whatever higher being was looking out for her today. 

Adena got mango ice cream and didn’t object at all when Kat asked if she could try some, instead trading for a bite of Kat’s rocky road. Kat grinned at her. 

“Wow, that’s some dream girl shit,” she said, having gotten significantly more bold since she’d first shown up on Adena’s doorstep. 

“Sharing ice cream is important to you?” Adena raised an eyebrow.

Kat shrugged.

“Or just food in general. After all, sharing is caring.” 

After they finished their ice cream, they got back in Adena’s car and went home, ending up in the same position as earlier: Adena standing just inside her house, Kat on the doorstep. Kat looked at her feet, one of which was kicking absently at the ground. 

“So, would you and Saoirse possibly wanna come to a totally secular holiday party that my mom is throwing this weekend? It’ll be mostly older people, but a few of them have kids about Saoirse’s age, and a couple of my friends will be there.” 

“Sounds fun,” Adena said.

The two stared at each other for a bit, Adena seeming collected as always, Kat trying to decide if she wanted to ask,

“So, was this a date?” 

She froze. Her big mouth was really biting her in the ass today. Adena just chuckled, though, stepping back over the threshold, leaning into Kat’s personal space.

“Did you want it to be?”

“Y-yes,” Kat stuttered before closing the last few centimeters of distance. Kat would never get used to kissing Adena. Adena was somehow gentle and hungry all at the same time, her hands gripping at Kat’s hips and pulling her into the house. Kat’s fingers traced patterns up and down Adena’s jaw, neck, collar bones, any skin exposed by her shirt. She kicked the door closed behind her as she felt Adena’s hands wandering down towards her ass. 

“Saoirse won’t be home until tomorrow?” Kat mumbled against Adena’s lips. 

Adena nodded, moving her lips down Kat’s jawline, eventually reaching her neck. Kat pressed Adena against her with one hand, the other toying with the hem of Adena’s colored shirt. Adena huffed and moved Kat’s hand under her shirt, and Kat felt the soft skin of her hip. 

“Your room?” She breathed out before gasping as Adena nipped at the skin just below her jaw. 

Adena nodded again, pushing Kat towards the open door, her lips continuing their plight down Kat’s neck. Kat fell back on the bed, lost in a storm of roaming hands and lips and tongues, and nothing had ever felt so right. 

 

Their peace was disturbed the next morning by a knock on the door. Adena sat up slowly, not bothering to pull a sheet around her very much exposed chest, and glanced at the clock. 

“Shit,” she said under her breath. 

“What?” Kat asked groggily as Adena jumped out of bed and grabbed a flannel shirt from the floor. 

“Saoirse is back. Nina’s mom said she would drop her off at 9:30.”

Kat looked at the clock. 9:34. 

“Oh, shit!”

Adena nodded aggressively, pulling on her pants and slipping out of the bedroom as the doorbell chimed. Kat got up and looked around for her clothes, smirking when she realized Adena had thrown on her shirt in her haste to answer the door. She grabbed a hoodie hanging in Adena’s open closet, pulled on her jeans, and sat quietly on the bed, wondering how Adena was going to try to sneak her out. 

Adena never got the chance to try to sneak her out. Saoirse burst through the door with a cry of “Kat!” and launched herself at Kat, effectively knocking her back onto the bed. Kat laughed, one arm wrapping instinctively around Saoirse so she wouldn’t fall over. 

“Good morning to you, too,” Kat said. “How did you know I was here?”

“You left your box on the couch. Are you gonna teach me to play Mario Kart? Also, is that shirt Mommy’s wearing yours? I’ve never seen it before. Wait… Did you guys do adult things? Are you girlfriends now?” 

Adena and Kat just looked at each other, not sure how to respond to the rapid fire questions. Kat decided to go ahead and take the easy ones.

“I already told you I would teach you, silly. And yeah, your Mommy is borrowing my shirt.”

“Because you guys did adult things because you’re girlfriends?” Saoirse asked, strangely hopeful. 

Adena coughed awkwardly. She and Kat both looked at each other again, a silent staring contest, their eyes silently begging for help. Finally, Adena caved. Sighing deeply, she sat down next to Saoirse, who was perched in Kat’s lap.

“Yes, babe. Kat and I did adult things. But that’s because we are adults and can make our own decisions.”

“Duh,” Saoirse said, attempting to raise one eyebrow, the other inevitably twitching up as well. “I know that. That’s why they’re called adult things.”

Kat and Adena breathed a collective sigh of relief that turned out to be premature. 

“So you guys are girlfriends?” Saoirse asked again. 

There was a split second of awkward silence. 

“Yes?” Kat said, both an answer and a question, peering over at Adena, who smiled at her. 

“Yeah. We’re girlfriends.”

“Cool.” Saoirse jumped up and padded towards the door. “C’mon, Kat, you promised you’d teach me to play Mario Kart, ‘member?”

“I remember,” Kat said, rolling her eyes fondly and getting up. 

Adena made waffles while the other two played in the living room. Saoirse hit Kat with not one but two blue shells, overtaking her on the leaderboard. Kat regretted teaching her how to play.

**Author's Note:**

> If y'all like this, I have some ideas built off of this piece, so I could continue it. No promises, though. I know my procrastinating-ass self enough to know that whether it will get written or not really is debatable.


End file.
